A positron projection imager for whole-body mouse imaging

Certain experimental questions in molecular imaging can be answered with projection imaging systems rather than tomographs. Accordingly, we have designed, assembled and are now testing a projection imaging system able to visualize the whole-body distribution of positron-emitting compounds in mouse-size animals. When completed, this positron projection imager (PPI) will plug into the MONICA portable dual gamma camera system to provide the user with a positron projection imaging capability and all of the data acquisition and analysis features available with MONICA for single photon projection imaging.